Games you wish weren't dead

[Dirty Hipsters]

Sometimes you find a cool multiplayer game and buy it only to find out that the community for said game is totally non-existent, either because the game just never really took off or because it's been too long and no one plays it anymore.

I thought it would be cool to talk about some of those games here. At worst we can all just ***** to each other about how people are stupid and let awesome games die, and at best we might be able to convince some people to get the games we're talking about and bolster the number of people who still play them.

I'll start with 2 somewhat similar games.

1. Strike Vector

It's a cool little multiplayer shooter where you fly a spaceship in fairly large zero gravity environments and have dogfights with other players. The game only came out a few months ago, but is completely and utterly dead already. I played a little of it last night and not counting myself and my friends there were a total of 2 people playing the game across about 100 servers.

The game itself is really fun and frantic, and it reinforces core shooter mechanics really well despite the fact that the gameplay takes place in space.

If it sounds interesting feel free to check out a little overview of the game below:


2. Shattered Horizon

It's kind of a similar game to strike vector in that it's a shooter that takes place in space in zero gravity environments. The gameplay is a bit slower than strike vector and there's a much greater emphasis on teamwork and being able to effectively navigate the really interesting and confusing environments rather than just straight up reflexes. All in all it's a really fun game that's also massively underpopulated (last time I played it there were maybe 20 people total playing it). Thankfully the low player count isn't as much of a problem in this game since it can be played with bots, and the bots are actually programmed quite well.

If it sounds interesting check it out:


I think the reason these games are so underpopulated is because they're actually really hard to play at first, and take actual learning and practice to get good at. They're very unlike most shooters, and getting your head around the fact that you can move anywhere within the 3D space available to you takes getting used to. Once you figure out these games though they're SOO much fun. I'm incredibly saddened that more people don't give them a chance.

So how about the rest of you? What multiplayer games do you wish were more successful/actually had a player base?

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

Anarchy Reigns

If you look that game up you can see the sad story of the clusterfuck that was its release. It was released in the US a year later than Japan, during a bigger release season which guaranteed it was going to be overshadowed, and was given zero marketing by Sega.

I picked it up new for 5$ a couple weeks ago. It is awesome, which means its Platinum game's usual standard. Basically it has a short but well put together main campaign which unlocks all the characters for multiplayer. Which is basically flashy moves vs flashy moves all coming from awesome characters in a very brutal fashion that you would expect from a Platinum game. I waited for an hour before giving up on a team death match game, and was invited to a duel by someone who had left the death match lobby. When I did play it was massively fun. But looking online to find out how active the community is, it is basically dead. On a good day you can find enough people to do a Free For All but good luck getting enough people.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Well, I wish Borderlands' online servers weren't dead. It would make Moxxi's Underdome less boring.

 

[Inglorious891]

Gotham City Imposters and Monday Night Combat.
Both were my crack back when I was a console pleb and both are underappreciated gems. Still play GCI once in a blue moon due to the game not being totally dead, but MNC on the PC is completely dead and only really hardcore guys place MNC on the 360, so there's no point in playing there.

Anarchy Reigns

Anarchy Reigns really deserved more than what it got. Really rough around the edges but still a fun game. More money and some actual advertising in the US would of made it fantastic and decently popular. Only played a few rounds with 3 friends but my God, the fun that was had. As it stands it's a fun game with wasted potential.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

M.A.G. It was a great game, but crap support ended up killing it. Its not often you get a 100+ player FPS on a console

I loved that game. I think the servers were still up until about a year ago, but there were never enough players for a Domination match. I actually preferred the 'small' 64-player maps, especially the VALOR Sabotage map where the final point is inside a huge wooden building on a hill.

 

[Louis.J]

Well, I wish Borderlands' online servers weren't dead. It would make Moxxi's Underdome less boring.

The news are that they are reviving it through Steamworks.

 

[rosac]

I wish brink hadn't committed suicide, it seemed interesting enough with the parkour and weapon customisation, but there was so little differentiation between the standard and slightly pimped out guns that it was a ballache to level up. I just returned to my first loves, TF2 and Guild wars 1.

 

[Madame_Lawliet]

Team Fortress Classic.
Yeah, I know it's pointless to mourn the loss of community for a 15 year old game, but man do I feel the need to load up some classic TFC every now and then. I actually think I prefer many aspects of TFC to those of TF2, yeah some aspects took time to warm up to, and it had nade spam like it was nobody's business, but it was fun as hell and managed to be the kind of game that kept me playing for hours upon hours withought any progression system or items at all.
Plus, y'know, it was my first online game so there's some rosiness in these glasses.

 

[josemlopes]

I think the reason these games are so underpopulated is because they're actually really hard to play at first, and take actual learning and practice to get good at. They're very unlike most shooters, and getting your head around the fact that you can move anywhere within the 3D space available to you takes getting used to. Once you figure out these games though they're SOO much fun. I'm incredibly saddened that more people don't give them a chance.

I dont think that its exactly that, every game starts to loose their player base eventually and unless they were incredibly big at any given time they will certainly fade away rather quickly (its why it hurts when they dont put much effort in bots, even if Unreal 2K4 wasnt still decently populated I could easily play it alone with good bots and have fun).

Not all games are Call of Duty, Quake or Unreal so it ends up becoming an empty wasteland in a matter of months. I recently got Splinter Cell Blacklist and, while I still can find some matches (it only needs a total of 4 players), from time to time I get stuck alone. Now imagine a game where to have a decent match you need at least 10 players.

Nowadays if its a small game without bots there is barely any point in buying it since you know that in 4 months it will never be played again.


Another cool thing is when you can have bots playing with other players to fill up the slots, even if they arent that good it helps populate the map with targets to keep the few players mildly entertained untill they actually face each other.


So yeah, I would also like Shattered Horizon to be populated since the bots dont seem to do much with the unique mechanics of the game.

Red Faction Guerilla, it was a fun game with some unique things in it.

Driver San Francisco, its basicly Midtwon Madness and I got it too late, never managed to play the multiplayer and I heard it was fun.

Also both Forgotten Hope 2 and Project Reality could get a population boost.

 

[drakonz]

battleforge great game killed by greed of ea and now it can never be played again if only phenomic studios would not have sold itself to ea.

 

[Madcat75]

Mechwarrior/Mechcommander (Dont mention Mechwarrior Online).
Tie Fighter.
Warhammer 40K Dawn of War.

REALLY wish someone would ressurrect Microprose.

 

[Daft Ada]

I wish the old COD games weren't full of guys with killbots and other such rubbish. There were some great maps in them but online games are ruined because of the cheats.

 

[AndreyKva]

Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. It's not exactly dead, but it could be more populated. The multiplayer of the game, I think, is a hidden gem. It's pretty good, but a lot of people dismiss it because they think it would probably be tacked on. I think it's great. There is a lot of strategy to each character and map. But this is one of Bioware's earliest entries to multiplayer, and there are some rookie mistakes. Flawed matchmaking, networking issues, the "pack" system means that 75% of the time you are using the in-game credits, you are getting something that you don't care about, don't want, or just don't need, all of that combined with generally few maps, and free DLCs added MP maps, true, but for some reason, they are rarely played in matchmaking sessions. It really sounds like it would be better with friends, but none of my friends play Mass Effect 3, except for a few, and those that do just hate ME3.

It doesn't help that EA dropped ALL support for the multiplayer component and it generally lacks any cheat protection system, which means cheaters can cheat and no-one will care. I bet one of those days, EA will shut down the game's servers too. Very unfortunate. If whoever reads this has Mass Effect 3 and never really got into the multiplayer, try it out again. It takes some time, but it can be really fun. I just hope DA:I's multiplayer is just as good, if not better.

 

[Artaneius]

The Ultima series. The best RPG series ever and EA killed it with Ultima IX...

 

[Ragsnstitches]

Dawn of War 2.

Most people would say they miss the original series, but I prefer the multiplayer component to DoW 2 more. It had a much greater focus on the tactical elements of combat, with heavy emphasis on micro skill opposed to macro management. It was also gloriously brutal.

In Team games like 2v2 or 3v3 ot played like a MOBA, with lanes to control with your hero and its associated races forces. It also had RTS elements like multiple resource management (energy, requisition points and racial abilities) unit management where you "construct" and control different units to aid your hero.

There were (by the time of Retribution) 6 races to choose from, with 3 heroes per race. Each race had their own particular focus, strengths and weaknesses, and each hero would bring their own flavor on top of that, with buffs, nerfs and global abilities that change the way you use your forces (a Warboss would utilise a lot of Mob tactics with a strong melee focus, while a Kommando Nob would use more guerrilla warfare tactics and a Mekboy would make better use of Vehicles and ranged forces).

On top of that, each Hero could be customised during a match to change its role in a fight. A Warboss could be become a monstrous tanker or damager, or he could focus on melee disruption, or go for AoE nerfs and buffs. A kommando could specialise as a lethal assassin, going invisible killing or seriously wounding high value targets quickly, or he could become a major disruptor by using mines, grenades and bombs, or he could be come an Anti Vehicle specialist, sneaking behind vehicles to cause high damage with a rocket launcher.

Unfortunately a lot of the variety was only theoretical. In practice, due to balance issues there were a few Races, Heroes and builds which could run circles around the others, making multiplayer less flavorful.

Aside from the relatively serious balance issues which were left in place when Relic dropped support for the game, the game also suffered from a toxic community, especially towards new comers. Not surprising giving its heavy reliance on Team play and its moba style lane control. This made it hard for the game to grow and maintain a community and newcomers were pushed off by a relatively large and toxic player base and old players would get fed up of the constant bickering and raging and leave. The game had a steep learning curve and the venom just made newcomers feel the effort of rising to the challenge not worth the torrents of abuse.

I stuck it out longer then many and only stopped playing when I realised all my friends were done with it and all that was left were the venom spewing assbags (well, mostly). Congratulations to those people... you got the game all to yourself now.

 

[thetoddo]

The Legacy of Kain series. Defiance ended on a cliffhanger that implied that the story was about to reach an end, and then nothing happened. I want my evil Ocarina of Time games back!

 

[Here Comes Tomorrow]

WH4K: Space Marine
Some of the most balanced fun I've ever had in a multiplayer game, only time I've had fun with SPESH MAHREENS

Timesplitters: Future Perfect
Best FPS multiplayer ever. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Not dead, but dying, which is shame because its league better than BF3 or 4.

 

[default]

I kind of like wandering around alone on dead servers of old games before coming across and chatting to some random guys who absolutely dominate me with their Zen-like skills. The Jedi Knight games come to mind (Academy and Outcast). I used to play them a lot with some friends a short time ago. The shooting and deathmatch isn't really my thing (it can be pretty sucky), but chilling out in an arena sort of area having organised saber duels is great. The swordfighting and movement mechanics of that game are really deep, flowy and tons of fun.

I wish there were more people online a lot of the time.

Apart from that, I make a habit of finding and playing really niche indie MMO experiments. Obviously they hardly ever have many players, but it's always interesting tracking down a moving dot on the horizon and interacting with others in these wierd settings.

 

[TheWorstMuppetEver]

M.A.G. It was a great game, but crap support ended up killing it. Its not often you get a 100+ player FPS on a console

I loved that game. I think the servers were still up until about a year ago, but there were never enough players for a Domination match. I actually preferred the 'small' 64-player maps, especially the VALOR Sabotage map where the final point is inside a huge wooden building on a hill.

Yeah, M.A.G was awesome! The first few months of its release were great! Shame it was online only, now I can't play it.

Also, (and this may be stretching the topic slightly seeing as I never played it) I remember seeing a game called Homeland for Gamecube that looked really cool!

It was predominantly online, (using the Gamecube as the server) wherein one player would create an online game (acting as gamesmaster) for up to 35 other players and complete quests! I love the art style. Shame it was never released outside of Japan.